Step Two: For each shelf you will use four legs provided with each IKEA Lack Side Table. Trim all four legs to your desired shelf height paying close attention to making all four legs exactly the same length.

(Tip) Apply Masking Tape around where you intend to cut, also if possible cut 2-4 of the legs at the same time. If you can only cut in pairs, label those front or rear.

Step Three: One of the IKEA Lack tables will not need it’s legs, but save those as extras for bad cuts or when your shelf height needs change, so can your rack. Attach the Ball Casters to the bottom corners or your Lack table top, leaving a 1/4 gap closest to the corners. It’s best to pre-drill these holes and drive the screws with less than half of your drills torque.

Step Four: Assemble the rest of the IKEA Lack Tables as per the instructions, paying mind to which legs present the most accurate, level, and clean cuts facing the front.

Step Four: Stack your tables to form the rack for a dry fit and make overall measurements. These are to make sure the rack doesn’t interfere with other furniture or unforeseen architectural detail of your space. (Adjust Accordingly)

Step Five: Once you’ve confirmed that all components fit the shelves as you have desired and the rack fits your space as required. Unstack and remember the order of shelves, possibly even labeled from top to bottom.

Starting with the base, stack and secure the above shelf by attaching the Corner Brackets to the rear of the front facing legs as pictured below.

Finally attach Mending Plates to the rear of the rack, securing one shelf, to the above shelf’s leg supports.

SUMMARY: This is a very easy and intuitive hack. Hopefully I’ve included enough details to the concept and I can assure you, it’s a sturdy build when done. Remember, measure twice, drill nice (Don’t over torque screws).

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Jules IKEAHacker "I am Jules, the engine behind IKEAHackers and the one who keeps this site up and running. My mission is to capture all the wonderful, inspiring, clever hacks and ideas for our much loved IKEA items".

This is a GREAT cheap way to get a stackable stereo component unit. Thanks for the idea! I was browsing for cabinets and found this ‘hack’ and truely appreciate you putting it on the internet. I will do this for mine and regardless of the morons posting against this, keep the good ideas forming.!

Yes they do; listen to a tape like a Maxell XL-II made on a Nakamichi cassette deck. Warm, lush, and smooth. This is something that people don’t get, if their only experience with tapes has been boomboxes, cheap all-in-one stereo units, or crappy car stereos.

It’s a certain kind of sound, and has nothing to do with acknowledging the existence of FLACS, 24/96, etc. By the way, it wasn’t the ’90s that called, it was more like the ’80s.

ANy talk of a modern audiophile that includes CD’s much less cassette tapes is about as useful as a 2nd gen camaro or firebird in a modern performance car shootout. Once great, but now far surpassed in all aspects.

Tapes don’t even have the “warmth” argument that can be made for LP’s or tube amps… it wasx a wonderful bridge technology that served it’s purpose for a couple of decades, but is long past it’s prime in a digital age. If you don’t get THAT, then you’re not a true audiophile, you’re a retrophile.

Ugghhh & lol @ Anonymous’ very ignorant “tape deck” comment above. “Please do not describe yourself as an audiophile”…”Enough said”? Really? You’ve obviously never heard what a high end tape deck is capable of. You probably shouldn’t be talking about tape decks when you are clearly dismissing them without knowing the difference between a crappy boombox cassette player and the real deal. Wouldn’t hurt to take a look at, say, the history behind the multitude of ways Nakamichi revolutionized audio cassette playback to absolutely rival that of the CD. Plenty of Technics cassette decks that sound fantastic. Look at Pioneer’s “Elite” tape decks. I’d rather have a Harman Kardon tape deck than most commonly available CD players. Tape decks have been a prime focus of audiophiles.

Anonymous is correct. You obviously have no taste and skillz because UR gear is not like mine. In the future B4 trying to do anything creative and then sharing, please refrain. It is a waste of time, yours and mine. It causes me to have to look at the picture and find out where U R inferior and then I have to take the time tell you how U R wrong. Please be more considerate of my time in the future!

Please do not describe yourself as an audiophile. You have a tape deck. enough said. As far as the idea…. I’d rather not have my living room look like I still live in the 80′s but if that’s your style go for it.

For airflow, there’s no reason cutouts on the table tops could not be made. They could extend almost to the backs of the components. They just can’t be made wider than the feet. The backs are open, so that’d provide very good ventilation (you just don’t want to cut the table top on the top – since that would look kinda funny…

even the bottom pieces of the legs that were cut off can also be saved as spare parts.

Flip the cut off legs upside down, drill a hole in the middle for a dowel screw, and you’ll have plenty of spare parts.

If you want a little more structural rigidity, just block the bottom of the legs as shown in the ikeafans link posted by Anonymous #7. Then you can either use those mending plates or dowels to make it really strong.

Love this! I agree that one should consider the particular ventilation needs of the components being racked (as the hacker instructs near the beginning of the post!)

One of the Anons in this comment thread remarks that sizing the shelf heights so particularly makes them un-adjustable in future, but here again the original post advises you to retain the legs intended for the “bottom” table to use as spares should mistakes during cutting or the need to change the height in future arise.

There are so many custom racks or rack mounts that fit around components like this, and they are just fine. I mean, a gazillion touring bands use this same kind of thing. Hell, I’m pretty sure Garcia had his Macintosh amps in his rack like that…

as to the other complaints in this topic. You can always vary the heights how you want them. Need more airflow? space them taller!

The nice thing about screws is that you can always undo them and rework the project. Plus you’ll have plenty of extra leg parts left when you cut them down. Just save them for spare parts later in case you need to make some modifications.

It may not be a high end audiophile rack, but it gets the job done in an affordable and pleasant way.

While I do think this is a nice idea and looks good, I would never do that to my electronics.Preventing airflow like that just isn’t a good idea. Unless I’m missing something, because the way I see it, there’s a solid board directly above it.

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